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ARI FLEISCHER: Well, I’m kind of shaking my head ruefully. That wasn’t quite a vertical shake, as much as a horizontal.

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ARI FLEISCHER: Well, again, the President has said that he has not made a decision about military action, if that’s what you mean. But the President is clearly sending a message to Saddam Hussein and to our friends and allies that there is no point in repeating the mistakesthat have been made before which allowed Saddam Hussein to bob and weave, to hide and to dodge, to cheat and retreat. We will not repeat and return to that era. (Laughter.)
Q. I don’t know whether I can follow that poetry. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: What do you have? (Laughter.)
Q. Not even going to go there.
Q. Cheat and retreat.
Q. In terms of this idea of weeks not months, if the President is as certain –
MR. FLEISCHER: That was inadvertent, by the way. (Laughter.)
Q. When you got it, you got it. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: I wouldn’t even know how I said it if you didn’t laugh.

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Q. First of all, thank for commenting on Jim’s hypothetical. We can expect that precedent to be observed in the future, I’m sure, as well. (Laughter.)
ARI FLEISCHER: Do you have a hypothetical?
Q. No, I don’t. I have two questions about Iraq.
MR. FLEISCHER: You’re missing an opportunity to roll off of that. (Laughter.)

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Q. You said earlier today that the President doesn’t care whether the American people support any decision to go to war or not.
ARI FLEISCHER: I didn’t say that.
Q. Basically you said it.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, it’s a –
Q. Okay, what did you say?
MR. FLEISCHER: It’s a wily paraphrase, Helen, wily.
Q. I think I compressed it well. (Laughter.)
MR. FLEISCHER: I know you do. That’s why you asked it the way you did. (Laughter.)
The President believes the following: that his job as Commander-in-Chief is to, first and foremost, protect the country from any threats that he perceives the American people may suffer. In carrying out that duty, the President, of course, at all times wants to have the support of the American people. But if the American people are fundamentally opposed to, or totally in favor of, a military action anywhere in the world, the President will make his judgment about when to use force to protect the country on the basis of what he believes is best to protect the country, not on the basis of any poll for or against.
Q. So basically you’re saying the impact of the public’s opinion has no meaning, meaning, actually, the anti-war demonstrations have no impact on the White House.
MR. FLEISCHER: No, Helen, what I’m saying is quite the contrary. The President, of course, seeks public support, and if the President makes a determination to use public — use support, the President will go to the public. And I think you’ll see he’ll — there will be even more support. At this very moment, the strong majority of the American people, as indicated by public polls, as on a very consistent and long-term basis, with little to no change since last August, have said that they support the use of force to disarm Saddam Hussein.
Q. — that he does expect that the public would support him if he goes — I mean, they would rally the patriotism and so forth. Isn’t this what the drumbeat is now, where major speeches every day in support of war?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I think there’s no question that the administration is and will continue to take its case and make its case to the American people. We are a democracy, after all.
Q. If he makes the case, why don’t you produce the weapons?
MR. FLEISCHER: That’s up to Saddam Hussein to produce the weapons. They’re not in the possession of the United States.
Q. No, if it was up to us — we keep charging it; if we know something why don’t we prove it”
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, let events take their course, Helen, and listen to Mr. Wolfowitz’s speech today.
Q. Are you going to pull a rabbit out of the hat?

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Q. Ari, when President Harry Truman gave the order to end racial discrimination in our Armed Forces, do you or the President — from what I am sure is your extensive knowledge of the presidency — do you recall anyone in Truman’s Cabinet who publicly opposed this action against racial discrimination, as Secretary Powell is publicly opposing the President’s effort to end racial discrimination in admissions to the University of Michigan?
ARI FLEISCHER: Number one, on your Truman question, I’m sure you know the answer. And I’m sure you will elucidate –
Q. No, I — my impression — I consulted with Helen. (Laughter.) And she doesn’t remember either that any one of those Cabinet members ever spoke out against Harry Truman, who I think would have fired them –
MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, have you ever consulted with Lester Kinsolving? Yes or no? (Laughter.)
Q. She did this morning.
Q. You weren’t born with Truman, were you?
MR. FLEISCHER: No. (Laughter.) Thank you for that.

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ARI FLEISCHER: …The President is proud to take on their charge of class warfare, to engage in it head on, and to share stories of people’s success from all walks of life in America.
Q. He’s going to engage in class warfare head on?
MR. FLEISCHER: To engage those who engage in class warfare head on. (Laughter.)
Q. Thanks for clearing that up.
MR. FLEISCHER: Thank you for clearing that up. The technical term for that is “slip of the tongue.”

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Q. Well, what do you mean by “time is running out”? How long can you let 200,000 U.S. troops sit in the sand?
ARI FLEISCHER: The question is how long will it take for Saddam Hussein to come clean and to prove to the world that he’s disarming.

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Q. Do you think these polls out today that show that the President’s personal approval rating has dropped into the 50s, and the disapproval –
ARI FLEISCHER: Did you say, polls, plural?
Q. I said, poll.
MR. FLEISCHER: Plural?
Q. Poll.
MR. FLEISCHER: There you go.
Q. But all I wanted to know is, does this tell us anything about the way in which the White House is communicating convinced the American people of the case against Iraq? Is this something that’s of any concern to you?
MR. FLEISCHER: No, I hardly think that at all. I think, frankly, that there are a number of news organizations, well represented in this room, who have shown the President to be at such a consistent high popularity level that you’ve stopped even reporting those facts to yourreaders or viewers. Actually, viewers. And so there’s all kinds of numbers of polls out there.

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Q. Can we presume that the President is very happy that Mr. Blix says there is no smoking gun in the search for weapons in Iraq?

ARI FLEISCHER: Well, the problem with guns that are hidden is you can’t see their smoke. And so we will still await to see what the inspectors find in Iraq and what events in Iraq lead to. The report that we understand was conveyed in the meeting up in New York this morning said that the work of the inspectors is still underway, they continue to gather information. And the report also cited a number of concerns and a number of problems in what Iraq has been doing.

Q. But it wouldn’t be disappointing, would it, if there were no weapons there?

MR. FLEISCHER: We know for a fact that there are weapons there. And so — the inspectors also went on –

Q. What’s the search all about if you know it so factually?

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me cite to you what was — what the inspectors have said at the United Nations. And this if from their reports. “In order to create confidence that it has no more weapons of mass destruction and proscribed activities related to such weapons, Iraq must present credible evidence. It cannot just maintain that it must be deemed to be without proscribed items so long as their is no evidence to the contrary.”

Now, continuing in the words of the inspectors, “A person accused of illegal possession of weapons may indeed be acquitted for lack of evidence. But if a state which has used such weapons is to create confidence it no longer has any prohibited weapons, it will need to present solid evidence or present remaining items for elimination under supervision.”

And they continue, “If evidence is not presented which gives us a high degree of assurance, there is no way the inspectors can close a file by simply invoking a precept that Iraq cannot prove the negative. In such cases, regrettably, they must conclude, as they have done in the past, that the absence of a particular item is not assured.”

So while they’ve said that there’s no smoking gun, they said the absence of it is not assured. And that’s the heart of the problem. The heart of the problem is Iraq is very good at hiding things.

Q. The heart of the problem is there is a lack of confidence in anybody speaking the truth there, isn’t that –

MR. FLEISCHER: Are you accusing the inspectors of not speaking the truth when they say that it’s not assured?

Q. No, I think they’re speaking the truth, and the country won’t accept it.

MR. FLEISCHER: So when they say the absence of the particular item is not assured, you accept that as the truth. You agree with the President. I’m very proud.

Q. I mean, the point is, wouldn’t you be happy if there were no weapons there?

MR. FLEISCHER: There would be nothing that would make the President happier than there being no weapons in Iraq. And the best way to make certain that there are no weapons in Iraq is for Saddam Hussein to disarm himself of the weapons he has.

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Q. Ari, why did the administration decide not to accelerate the estate tax–

ARI FLEISCHER: Because the purpose of the package that the President announced was, again, to create opportunities for growth and to stimulate the economy. When you provide people with these earlier child tax credits, to modify behavior by getting people to spend more money earlier, the last thing we want to modify is behavior vis-a-vis death. It would not exactly be good tax policy to give people an incentive to die earlier. (Laughter.) So, therefore, estate taxes are typically not the type of changes you want to make in the tax code involving their effective date. If you know what I mean. (Laughter.)

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PRESS GAGGLE IN THE SOUTH DRIVEWAY

ARI FLEISCHER: Good morning, nation’s press corps. Good morning. This is the back of Air Force One. (Laughter.) So this is a newfangled gaggle.

Q. Driveway journalism.

MR. FLEISCHER: What kind of journalism?

Q. Driveway journalism. (Laughter.)

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ARI FLEISCHER: Good afternoon. And to Helen, bon jour; I like your chapeau.

Q. It’s a bad hair day. (Laughter.)

MR. FLEISCHER: You’re talking to me about a bad hair day? (Laughter.)

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Q. At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up.

ARI FLEISCHER: I refer specifically to a horrible terrorist attack on Tel Aviv that killed scores and wounded hundreds. And the President, as he said in his statement yesterday, deplores in the strongest terms the taking of those lives and the wounding of those people, innocents in Israel.

Q. My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, the question is how to protect Americans, and our allies and friends –

Q. They’re not attacking you.

MR. FLEISCHER: — from a country –

Q. Have they laid the glove on you or on the United States, the Iraqis, in 11 years?

MR. FLEISCHER: I guess you have forgotten about the Americans who were killed in the first Gulf War as a result of Saddam Hussein’s aggression then.

Q. Is this revenge, 11 years of revenge?

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, I think you know very well that the President’s position is that he wants to avert war, and that the President has asked the United Nations to go into Iraq to help with the purpose of averting war.

Q. Would the President attack innocent Iraqi lives?

MR. FLEISCHER: The President wants to make certain that he can defend our country, defend our interests, defend the region, and make certain that American lives are not lost.

Q. And he thinks they are a threat to us?

MR. FLEISCHER: There is no question that the President thinks that Iraq is a threat to the United States.

Q. The Iraqi people?

MR. FLEISCHER: The Iraqi people are represented by their government. If there was regime change, the Iraqi –

Q. So they will be vulnerable?

MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the President has made it very clear that he has not dispute with the people of Iraq. That’s why the American policy remains a policy of regime change. There is no question the people of Iraq –

Q. That’s a decision for them to make, isn’t it? It’s their country.

MR. FLEISCHER: Helen, if you think that the people of Iraq are in a position to dictate who their dictator is, I don’t think that has been what history has shown.

Q. I think many countries don’t have — people don’t have the decision — including us.

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Q. Can I — I’m sorry, an unrelated follow-up. The GOP has announced that New York City will be the site of the 2004 convention. Is this a signal that the President believes the state of New York is winnable for him?

ARI FLEISCHER: Well, one, the committee worked very hard to make its decision about the holding of the convention. They did a tremendous amount of research and there were a number of leading cities that were considered. The President is very pleased and looks forward to go to going to New York. I think that others more expert in politics can tell you whether New York is winnable or not for the President, but the President would very much like to, if he decides to run for reelection, carry his campaign throughout the country. And obviously, the President has a great many new supporters in New York. And the President looks forward to continuing to talk about the policies that he thinks are good not only for New York, but for the entire nation. But New York, as well. And my brother’s apartment will be available to anybody who needs it. (Laughter.)

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Q. Isn’t it the assumption with the stimulus that in order for it to have any short-term stimulative effect that people will actually have to go out and spend this money? Isn’t it a real possibility that a lot of these people who are getting back $1,000, which is less than they owe on their credit cards, that they will actually have to — that they will actually go out and spend that money, and not use it to just pay off debt?

ARI FLEISCHER: I think what you just heard, with all due respect, is exactly why some American people look at Washington and say Washington doesn’t get it. A thousand dollars is a tremendous amount of money to most Americans. It’s not just an amount of money on people’s credit card — that it’s smaller than what’s on their credit card. That’s real money. That’s a lot of real money to a lot of Americans. And the American people feel that it’s their money and that they’re over-taxed. And I think that anybody who hears that they may get $1,000 of their money back is very appreciative for it.

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